


We'll Be Alright

by Peter_Pansexual



Series: Shot Through The Heart (Jesus/Daryl) [1]
Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Gay Character, Character Study, Daryl Dixon & Maggie Greene Friendship, Depressed Daryl Dixon, Emotional Daryl Dixon, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Everyone Needs A Hug, Feels, Gay Male Character, Gen, Hurt Jesus (Walking Dead), I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Maggie Greene Ships Daryl Dixon/Jesus, Male-Female Friendship, Minor Maggie Greene/Glenn Rhee, Missing Scene, One Shot, POV Third Person, Pre-Daryl/Paul, Pre-Slash, Protective Jesus (Walking Dead), References to Depression, Sad Jesus (Walking Dead), Short One Shot, The Sanctuary, guilty jesus, the saviors - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-06 16:26:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18854731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peter_Pansexual/pseuds/Peter_Pansexual
Summary: A few days have passed since Jesus saved Daryl from the sanctuary. The horrific memory of Daryl beating in Fat Joey’s face with a metal pipe has been haunting his dreams at night. He seeks the comfort of his best friend, Maggie, in his time of need, but gets more than he bargained for.---To be clear, this takes place before “Our Hope”, but either can be read as stand-alone stories. Also, the warning for a graphic depiction of violence is just to be safe. I don't think it is graphic, but some people might disagree so to be safe I tagged it.





	We'll Be Alright

**Author's Note:**

> Please support my writing by leaving a comment and a kudo!  
> My Tumblr: im_just_here_for_the_gay_ships

"You didn't see what I saw, Maggie. He-he wasn't there. It was like he was acting on autopilot or something. And when he did finally notice me, he almost didn't recognize me, like he thought I was imaginary or something. I think he had given up hope that we would come to save him.” Jesus says, his voice breaking. He grits his teeth and looks up at the sky in a poor attempt to stop his tears from falling.

He remembers jogging towards the sound of brokes cracking and metal hitting the concrete. His mind racing. “God, no, please not Daryl. Please let him be okay. Don’t let me find him turned,” he thought. As he passes the large truck, the sight before him makes him stop dead in his tracks. 

“Daryl,” he said, breathing heavily, but his voice fell onto deaf ears. Blood was being splattered all over the place. A dark trail started crawling towards Jesus’s feet. He watched helplessly as Daryl’s body started to shake from adrenaline and exhaustion. After what seemed like forever, Daryl stopped. His breath was ragged and his face red. His eyes were glossed over like he was going to break down any second now. 

“Jesus…” Maggie says, her voice thick as she rests her hand on her broken friend’s arm. 

He brushes her off, “I should have gone sooner.” 

“You can't blame yourself.”

“I can. I'm the one who got you all into this mess, Maggie. I caused all of this! Maybe if I had-”

“If you had what?” She interrupts. “Forced yourself to stay silent when your people needed you most? That's not what a good leader does.”

“I'm not a leader,” he says bitterly.

“Yes, you are, whether you want to be or not. Your people depend on you for safety, for food, for guidance, because they sure as hell ain't gettin’ it from Gregory.”

“What if I don't wanna be a leader?”

“Tough shit, Jesus. You're not that selfish. Rick didn't want to be the leader for a long time, but without him where would we be? He sacrificed a lot making the decisions he's made. Sometimes, they weren’t the right ones, but he still made them because we needed him to. Being a leader isn't glamorous, Jesus. It's doing the shit that needs to get done.”

The air between them becomes heavy with silence. Jesus stares at his hands as he traces the lines on his palm. Maggie waits patiently for him to speak again.

“I try to help, but no one seems to want it.”

“It doesn't matter if they want it. What matters is if they need it, and right now, they need direction. Think about it like this. The community is blindfolded and stuck in the forest with predators at every corner. You are in front of all of them and you have a map. Are you going to let them fend for themselves or are you going to try your best to save as many of them as you can?” 

She pauses and looks towards the fire illuminating the center of the camp. People are laughing and drinking. Children are running around trying to catch fireflies.

“People are stubborn, Jesus. They aren’t always going to want to listen because they always think they are right. You can’t save them all, but does that mean we shouldn’t try?”

“No.”

“So what are you gonna do now?”

“I don’t know,” he whispers. He brows are scrunched up and he searches Maggie’s eyes like he’ll find an answer in them. 

She smiles sadly and rubs her hand on his arm. “Come here,” she pulls him against her. “Whatever you choose just know that I’m right here with you. I’ll have your back no matter what.”

“Why can’t you be the leader? You already seem to be better at it than me.”

“I can be, but I ain’t gonna be able to do it alone. I’ll need a second in command. Can you do that for me?

“I’ll do anything you ask.”

“We’ll be alright,” she smiles, hope blooms in her chest. They’ll all be alright, she can feel it in her bones.

**Author's Note:**

> Please support my writing by leaving a comment and a kudo!  
> My Tumblr: im_just_here_for_the_gay_ships


End file.
